In the popular media, you know who excels at achieving extraordinary thinness. Fashion models, actresses, musicians, and female power players in corporate America, seem to be continually pushing the envelop to more extreme degrees of tiny. Such luminaries as Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Richie, Kate Moss, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie look like they have lost significant muscle mass over the last several years. Those arms and legs are now little more than bony limbs on frail human frames.
Who said this is the way women's bodies should look? Why are young people starving themselves to seemingly emulate an extremely unhealthy body type? Is this starvation mode an elite response to the obesity epidemic in the U.S.? Is it a sick competition on who can be thinnest in the film and fashion industries? Do film studios put the pressure on or does the fashion industry lead the charge, demanding mere human clothing hangers to put their new lines into movement on the runway?
Share your thoughts on this issue. And, what can be done to let corporate America comprehend that we want a more balanced vision of beauty? Or, is the image of women as now depicted in popular media THE ideal, in your opinion? What is right and wrong about it? Is there cultural variation? Is this a social class issue? A West Coast-East Coast thing? Analyze it.
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The media has a huge influence on body image and what an "ideal woman" should reflect according to our society. Most girls I know are comfortable with their body size, image, and weight; except for the few cases where some of my friends want to lose weight because of health issues; but not necessarily to become extremely thin. Actually, most of my friends agree with me: that "too thin" does not equal "beautiful."
Who says these actresses are beautiful? the producers? media? women of our society? I leave this question open.
The film industry cannot reject unhealthy projections of women because it is what the media has and fervidly continues to instill in Americans. Starvation and bony framed bodies are the bods that famous actresses are strutting all over the red carpets and that surprisingly everyone seems to be accepting and acknowledging. Unfortunately, there are many individuals that run their lives based on what the media projects causing individuals of all ages to be concerned about their weight even though they are at an average weight.
It is in women’s nature to love the attention received by others therefore one begins to obsess over certain behaviors that one thinks will bring about attention. The one way to always receive attention is by shedding a few pounds. When a few pounds are lost people begin to complement the individual and subconsciously the individual begins to preoccupy constantly about their figure, causing the individual to lose control over their body. They begin to see their bodies as fat and distorted and in a blink of an eye, that woman obsessed with her weight is already stricken with an eating disorder.
In my opinion celebrity icons are completely obsessed with being thin because they are constantly receiving publicity, whether it is good or bad and it seems to me that there is a competition within them to see who can be the thinnest and the boniest and still remain alive. Personally I believe the image being depicted by the media is not the ideal body image, being too thin is unhealthy and it is not pretty. In the past having voluptuous curves was healthy and normal. Famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe had full figured bodies and were seen as “sex” symbols.
It is undeniable to everyone that today’s society has developed an “ideal” body type. Women, now getting increasingly younger, are becoming obsessed with weight issues and body image. Today’s celebrities, like Angelina Jolie, are almost conveying to the world that being skinny is the way to become more beautiful. I beg to differ. When I browse thru magazines or watch television I almost feel disgusted. All these celebrities are losing weight at such an extreme measure that they begin to look like different people. The unfortunate aspect about this situation is that those who look up to these celebrities are starting to believe that looking almost like a skeleton is “sexy.”
Such a weight loss epidemic is not only hurting today’s population, but putting more and more people in danger. Young and older women, men, even children are becoming more and more obsessed with their body image. These are the people that are turning to unhealthy eating habits and in some cases eating disorders to obtain a “thin” body. There is some awareness through commercials about eating disorders and eating habits, but that’s not enough. People that are a little thicker and/or voluptuous should be credited for their figure, instead of discouraged.
In today's society the media has alot to do with the way people view their body image, and whether they are content or unhappy with the way they look. With show's like America's Next Top Model, more and more women are being told how they "should" look. Shows like this one, have created media's perception of how to dress, walk, talk, behave, weigh, etc. Sadly, shows like this are truly affecting younger and younger women. Young girls today are more self-conscious of how to look and whether they are over weight. Corporate America is literally stating what beauty is, and anything other than their expectations is not. The media takes celebrities and uses them as the IDEAL image for women and celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie, Kate Moss demonstrate THIN, THIN, THIN, and continue getting THIN. This is wrong on behalf of the media, because they are responsible for the way women think they "should" look. In regards to a social issue, I believe it is definietly a social issue. The rate of anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders continues to rise in the U.S. putting more and more women at risk.
Media is such a vast way to attract the public because it is everywhere news stands, magazines, billboards, ad, commercials, T.V., internet, video games, etc. The way that mass media projects women as "Thin" to be beautiful has a large effect on the public, most especially the youth. It is in woman's nature to crave attention, especially when they are being admired for their "beauty." Even young girls are being tied into wanting to look like these models and actresses because they are popular and gazed upon by others. Shows like america's next top model only portrays girls who are "thin."
Magazines, TV shows, actors, and models are the visual images Americans look at to see what defines the “ideal” type. The media plays a significant role on why so many women feel the need to be extremely thin, and pretty much do whatever it takes to get that ideal body type. My thoughts in this issue is that the media needs to stop promoting that the best body type is one that falls below a persons average weight, and puts them in a category where they are no longer healthy. Women feel they need to look like the women displayed in the media in order to look “beautiful” although, as they become thinner and thinner they are never satisfied with their body image. There seems to be no end point, where a woman feels they have reached a desired weight that is socially acceptable, so instead, they continue to diet and end up in the hospital in critical condition or even death. In my opinion this is a social class issue for it is affecting the lives from young girls to women physically, and emotionally. We need to show corporate America that the issue they have created has lead to a trend in starving; purging and that the image of 80 pound females with only skin and protruding bones is not the “ideal women.”
Self-perception tends to predict and dictate one’s emotional and physical state. In a society where consumerism reigns supreme, messages tend to have the largest influence on adolescents. Bombardment of images and exposure to dictated ideals is almost inevitable. As a result, self-esteem can be impacted either negatively or positively. What we can see emerging from the media is the formation of a quintessential ideal in which we should all strive to achieve. The underlying question we should prose is, exactly whose “ideals” are we trying to become? Does attaining these “ideals” warrant everlasting happiness and success? Perhaps the psychology behind our consumer driven society can be linked back to the advertiser’s attempts to increase demands for their products. This difficult ideal of beauty, which is rare form for the “elite” few then becomes a question of self-inadequacy driving the consumer to feel a need to strive for this ideal, buy their products, and as a result get a little closer to achieving ultimate beauty. This distortion of self image is a far cry from the realities of the profile for the average American woman who is 5’4” tall and 140lbs. A stark contrast to the media portrayed model that is on average 5’11” and 117lbs. Statistically speaking, models are 98% thinner than the average woman (Crowther et al., 1992). The biggest threat to women in our society is not only the obvious health risks involved in accomplishing these goals but also the mental and emotional factors as well. Furthermore, I think this also threatens individual conceptualization and realization through the conforming of these standards and results in a loss of focus on the development of one’s inner and outer self. Ultimately, corporate America’s goals do not include one of moral concern other than that of their own agenda.
The celebrities we see in the media do NOT represent the average and healthy women of today. If the average person was to see someone as thin as Nicole Richie or Angelina Jolie walking on the street, we would most likely think they suffered from some type of eating disorder or mental disorder. This is not what people should look like;this body type physically and mentally damages a person. For people who are young and easily influenced, celebrities need to be more responsible for the body image they portray. Going into such a high-profile job, they know that they will be constantly looked upon by young, influential eyes. It is the celebrities duty to show young girls what it really means to be healthy, not sickly. But, also, for the older adults who have had time to grow and learn from experiences and the environment, they also need to take control and not let their self-esteem take the better of them. If adults are being influenced by these celebrities, they need to try their best to use their knowledge and sense to know that some celebrities are unhealthy and we should not emulate them. The body image we see in the media is NOT the ideal body image. A healthy woman MUST eat, not starve themselves. A healthy woman SHOULD exercise, but not to the point of over exertion. A healthy woman should realize their flaws and accept them. And hey, if their flaws bother them that much, they can make realistic goals for themselves; such as doing weight training to build muscle where they feel uncomfortable about their cellulite. Plastic surgery should not be the first option to building a satisfying body image. Corporate America can realize these points by average girls stepping up to show what is realistic and true. Women and girls can write letters to magazines and clothing companies to request models with body figures that are healthy and normal, not lanky and bony. Women and girls can support celebrities who use their status in a good way, for instance Beyonce, a celebrity who embraces her beautiful figure and encourages young women to do the same. No matter the class, this is a serious issue. Every young woman has insecurities but we can take the challenge to love ourselves and not base our happiness on how close we look to a celebrity. We women were made unique and special for a reason, not to mimic something sickly, but to strive to be content within our own skin.
Media is one the best ways to communicate world wide. Its always a battle with women fighting to have the ideal size and weight. No woman is ever happy with the way she looks. Women rather spend more time thinking on what other people think about their body. Funny how in the media they trash women for being too thin or for being too overweight. Just recently media is annoucing how Angelina Jolie has become all bones, that she is thinning away. Has society's values drop down to caring about who is thin and what is too thin. According to the fashion model industry only make dresses and designs for size 0-2, the percent of woman being that size is close to slim.
I think that weight has a lot to do how women in our society value themselves. It is a continuing problem that is only getting worst because it is fueled by the media. Everyday we see actresses, singers, and public figures who are getting thinner and thinner everyday, and these women do not realize or necessarily care how there own personal body image is affecting the minds of millions of girls around the world. While I do not place the blame solely on the Media I think that they are the biggest contributing factor to this epidemic!
America has begun to see that there is a very big problem affecting the young girls of our country’s: self esteem, body image, and mental health. There is now some what of a backlash happening around the world. Former Model Tyra Banks has started a “So What” Movement that helps not only girls but women around the world except their weight, their flaws, and just be happy with themselves. Spain was the first country to ban overly thin models. It was said that they want to promote health and beauty. And lastly Dove’s campaign for real beauty promotes women of all color, size, and shape. All of these things contribute to a more balanced vision of beauty.
I think that as women we should educate other women and promote health not skinny or fat. Body image is a continuous topic and all sides of the spectrum should be taught.
The media tends to always finds way to influence society into following a certain trend. Being "thin" has been a reoccurring trend in the past years. However, lately it has become about being "too thin". Celebrities like Nicole Richie, Angelina Jolie, and Kate Moss are being criticized for being "too thin" yet at the same time other celebrities that are not thin are being criticized for not keeping up to todays standards of what is considered beautiful. The most recent example I can think of is Britney Spears' performance at the VMA's. No one could stop talking about her weight. Comments like "the bulging belly she was flaunting was SO not hot" (E! Online). In the past she was seen as the ideal role model for teenage girls. She emphasized her sexiness through her physical appearance but now it seems like her career is going downhill. I think pressure like this from the media causes celebrities and even young women to become extremely self-conscious of their bodies. They try to attain the perfect body through any means possible, even if it means taking extreme measures. Even though being "thin" is still at the top in the media, other producers are working to get more full-figured women out on television. Advertisements from Dove use confident, full-figured women to promote their ads. They realize that beautiful is exactly that and not the "thinness" that society tends to focus on. I think society needs to make its up mind in what they think "beautiful" is. Women are criticized for being to "heavy" while at the same time others are criticized for being too "thin". In the end it always falls back to how we see ourselves and if we're happy, of course at the same time making sure we are healthy. But simply bringing in the topic of being healthy bring ups another problem. What exactly is healthy? This is a problem that seems to affect several other factors in society, therefore making it a social justice issue.
Have any of you seen the recent "In Touch" magazine? The cover story is on extreme thin actresses and models. Too bad Renee Z. has dropped so many pounds. It seemed she was going to resist the trend to anorexia-looking figure. Last year at the Oscars she had curves that complimented her clothing. No longer.
I am truly amazed as to how far we have let corporate America get with their ideal image of beauty. They are promoting unrealistic and unhealthy standards that not every woman could or would be able to live up too. In addition to this, the front runners of the industry, such as Nicole Richie, Kate Moss, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie, are taking this “ideal” body type to a whole new level of what seems like anorexia. By doing this they are setting unhealthy and realistically unachievable goals for their fans who rang in ages from as young as 9 to as mature as 48. By doing this they are affecting the lives of all women who try to achieve these high set standards. I strongly feel that the “ideal” body type that is being promoted is not a balanced view of all the different cultural versions of beauty. Due to this, it seems that the elite class of corporate America is prosperously setting such standards to keep themselves separate form the rest of America. This therefore causes a social class issue that is affecting the live of women in a very unhealthy way.
Another example of mixed messages on body shape: Brittany Spears was criticized in the press this week for her weight. The woman has issues on a variety of fronts, but to get after her for her weight (which she could have dressed in another way to display it better) for the MTV awards only reinforces the necessity to get thin...very thin. Perhaps the press just likes picking on her. She does seem to ask for it at times.
The most offensive aspect of this trend is that not only are women being defined by their body shape, the most desired shape borders on the bizarre. We have scorned societies that demanded foot-binding, corseted waistlines, incapacitating hoop-skirts and mutilation. Ironically, while women have fought to end fashion trends that denoted social class but also debilitated physical health and well-being, we are now accepting and even emulating this body shape.
Are we looking to appear childlike or merely to make ourselves appear more fragile and vulnerable? If so, what is the desired outcome?
Many management agencies were probably the ones that told women what the perfect way to look in the fashion industry is. This “Ideal” body image that we have of models has come largely from our elders. I remember when I was a child and having older people in the media portray these thin models as beautiful and perfect. Now, that many of them are gaining wide world attention about how thin they are the media is on their backs once again. My entire life I have been thin and it has bothered me that people always perceive me as a walking stick figure. I have wanted to be more and more like the thicker people around me. It has not been until recently that I have become comfortable with my weight. So what if there are thin people, I think that either way we should not be quick to judge (whether they be thin or thick). I honestly do not think that everyone thin actress in Hollywood has a problem. Many of these famous people have nutritionist advising on the correct food to eat and how to exercise. Maybe the problem is that they have continued to diet but no longer exercise. This can lead to rapid muscle loss but it does not necessarily mean that they are starving themselves, even though perhaps some of them are. Also, what if these popular paparazzi magazines are airbrushing the pictures furthermore to have a “wow factor” on the average person so to entice them to buy the magazine? The people to blame for the consequences that these images are having on the younger generation is the media and the people publishing these images!
I certainly do not believe that being extremely thin is the IDEAL body type. Young females receive this message that “thin” is the perfect body type as early as kindergarten when these young girls play with Barbie who is depicted as the ideal portrait of what a woman should look like in America- white, blonde, tall, and slender. It is condescending to see that women are emulating these distorted images of the ideal body type to extreme measures which result in anorexia and other health complications. I spoke with the women’s program manager, Lillian Chu, at my internship site, Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT), who explained to me that while she was taking a gender studies class at UCLA, she learned that there is a higher standard of how women are viewed upon in society compared to men. We discussed the standard of how women are judged in society is largely based on their appearance whereas males are judged more on their socio-economic status according to statistics. Because of the eminent importance of a woman’s appearance in society was inferred from those studies, the pressures to look beautiful, thin, and attractive do not only originate from the media, magazines, movies, and television, but they are also cultural. Indeed, television and films do glamorize that what is attractive to the masses is absolutely thin and that smaller is always better. Women who are anorexic justify that their fragile, skinny bodies are healthy because models and other actresses own those types of bodies as well. However I do I believe that cultural norms have placed so much emphasis over a woman’s appearance to justify her worth and value in society that is has caused so many women to become distressed over their weight. Even women who are educationally successful but who are overweight might possess disadvantages to a thinner, woman who is equally qualified for a job.
Most women have the misconception that everyone needs to be thin. With the media having such a high influence on thinness and with the fashion industry making weight such a priority everyone wants to “look good”. With this being said- it’s a must for people to do what they see broadcast all over the media. What most people believe is that one must be thin in order to fit in our society. With actresses such as those mentioned already and not to forget those who confessed having an eating disorder like the Olsen twin- this makes the thin idea more believable. Rejecting these ideas seems almost impossible because it has been filtered through everyone’s minds over and over again that if the media were to come up with a new idea, no one would believe it. To say that average or even that BIG is in, most people would laugh at that thought because no one would believe it. We’re given the ideal that thin is the way to be, and that if you are average weight, or BIG, something is wrong with that person. Due to the media regurgitating the same idea of “thin is in” over and over again, we believe it, and so many of us try to be like the many anorexic, sickly, skinny people on TV., in magazines, and modeling clothes we seem to buy on a daily basis.
I was just wondering...do all of you remember the "Dove" (soap) advertisements (I'm not sure if they still have them) where they would show women who would be classified under "fat" or "ugly" according to our society current projection of to be "beautiful" is to be "thin." They posted naked pictures (posing in a way where they are able to hide their feminine parts) of a variety of women, most of whom did not project this "thin" and what seems to be popular "look." They received negative feedback from men stating that if they wanted to see a fat ugly chick that they could just look at their girlfriend or wife. I was just wondering what people thought about this. Are these advertisements positive for women? How do you think it affects other media types of women who are "thin"? any thoughts on this?
check out this link
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat3.asp?id=2287&src=InsideCampaign_firming
what do you think?
should media portray these women more than those of unhealthy thin celeberties?
Over history, what is believed to be attractive has evolved from one culture to another. In American culture during the earlier 1900’s, plump and curvaceous women were the ideal body types. We have now transformed that image to sickly, thin body images. I think so many women are obsessed with weight and fasting because they are equating thinness to success and sexiness. As long as the media utilizes ultra-thin models to convey what is beautiful and glamorous, teen age girls will inevitably continue to look up to these icons of what ideal body physiques should be like.
I work at a retail store and not that long ago and winona writer came in the store and I was helping her find some closes she asked me if we had something smaller then a size 0 I looked at her in shock and answered sorry we don’t she continued to say I was just wondering because the size 0 fits me to big. I don’t know who sets this standard of being tiny is cool but when I looked at her that day I felt bad that she looked sad and really unhealthy I’m a size 6 and I feel perfectly find not to be a size 0. In the 50’s and 60’s the average size for a women was a size 14 &16. Lucil ball was a size 15 and Marilyn manroe was a size 16 and they were the icons of their era.
Winnona Ryder wants a smaller size than zero!?? That says it all. They are in their own unusual reality. The problem is, by their actions and ever-presence in all forms of media, the average woman is drawn into the desire to be skin and bones, too. Incredible.
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